Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Aida Shirazi s a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. Shirazi’s music is described as ”unfolding with deliberation” by The New York Times, “well-made” and “affecting” by The New Yorker, and “unusually creative” by San Francisco Classical Voice.
In her works for solo instruments, voice, ensemble, orchestra, and electronics, she mainly focuses on timbre for organizing structures inspired by Persian and English languages and literature.
Shirazi’s music has been featured at festivals and concert series, including Manifeste, Wien Modern, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Mostly Mozart, OutHear New Music Week, MATA, Marlboro Music Festival, Direct Current, Taproot, and Tehran Contemporary Music Festival in venues such as Maison de la Radio France, Radialsystem Berlin, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Kennedy Center. Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Miranda Cuckson, International Contemporary Ensemble, Oerknal, Quince Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, Sarah Cahill, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Empyrean Ensemble, and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, are among the performers of Shirazi’s music.
Shirazi holds a Ph.D. in composition and music theory from the University of California, Davis. She has studied with Mika Pelo, Pablo Ortiz, Kurt Rohde, Yiğit Aydın, Tolga Yayalar, Onur Türkmen, and Hooshyar Khayam, and participated in workshops and masterclasses by Mark Andre, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Riccardo Piacentini, and Füsun Köksal, among others. She is a 2022 graduate of IRCAM’s “Cursus Program in Composition and Computer Music.” Shirazi holds a B.M. in music composition and theory from Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkey) and a B.A. in classical piano from Tehran University of Art (Iran.) She has studied santoor (traditional Iranian hammered dulcimer) with Parissa Khosravi Samani.
Shirazi is a founding member and co-artistic director of the Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA.)